Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has again pared its stake in One97 Communications Ltd (OCL), the Paytm parent, through share sales in the open market. The latest reduction has taken its holding in OCL to under 3 per cent.
“SVF India Holdings (Cayman) Ltd has disposed of an aggregate of 13,784,787 equity shares of OCL in a series of sales undertaken between January 23 and February 26, with a disposal on February 26 breaching the 2 per cent threshold specified in Regulation 29 (2) of the Sebi Takeover Regulation,” the firm said in a statement.
Shares of OCL on Thursday ended 0.23 per cent lower at Rs 405.20 and has a market cap of Rs 25,736 crore. Its shares have come under pressure after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed tough restrictions on associate Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL) over persistent non-compliance and continued material supervisory concerns.
In January, the RBI had barred PPBL from accepting fresh deposits or top-ups in customer accounts, wallets, FASTags, and other instruments after February 29. This deadline was subsequently extended to March 15.
OCL holds 49 per cent of the paid-up share capital (directly and through its subsidiary) of PPBL, while founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma has a 51 per cent stake in the payments bank.
SoftBank has been paring its holdings in Paytm over the past few months. The latest sale has taken its holding in OCL to 2.83 per cent from 5.01 per cent. It had also sold 12,706,807 equity shares between December 19, 2023 and January 20,2024, which comprised close to 2 per cent of Paytm’s equity.
